A FRENCH CABINET minister is liable for €157 in property tax here in Ireland because of an apartment she owns in north Dublin.
Hélène Conway-Mouret, the Minister responsible for French Nationals Abroad, has strong connections to Ireland having lived here for three decades before taking up her cabinet position last year.
She was among 37 French cabinet ministers who this evening have disclosed their personal wealth following a scandal involving a former budget minister who admitted having a secret foreign bank account.
In contrast to some of her cabinet colleagues, Conway-Mouret’s disclosure form details a relatively modest portfolio which includes an apartment in north Dublin worth €180,000.
According to Revenue’s guidelines, this means that the former DIT lecturer will be liable for €157 in property tax for the 60 square metre apartment this year with €315 due next year.
The disclosure also details Conway-Mouret’s apartment in Paris which at 57 square metres is smaller than her Dublin property but worth €430,000, more than the €360,000 she paid for it four years ago.
The minister has over €37,000 across five different bank accounts, not unusual for French citizens, as well as life insurance policies. She also owns a Peugeot 406 which is 14 years old and worth €1,500 compared to €5,000 when she bought it.
The form also detail that Conway-Mouret values the assorted contents of her home at €11,000.
French president Francois Hollande ordered the disclosure of all of his ministers’ personal property, shares, life insurance and other assets in response to revelations that ex-budget minister Jerome Cahuzac had a secret foreign bank account.
Foreign minister Laurent Fabius is among the wealthiest in the cabinet – owning three properties worth a total of €3.9 million euros – while prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has two houses and a garage.
Hollande did not make his own declaration having already done so when he was elected last year, declaring €1.17 million in assets, including a house in the southern town of Mougins and two apartments in Cannes, though he is still paying €1,500 a month in loans.
- additional reporting from AFP
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